Supply Chain Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 3

Supply Chain Management - Essay Example Zara contributes a total of 2/3rd  of the total Inditex Group. With a turnover of more than $150 million, the success mantra for Zara is to offer the best quality at shortest time span possible and cheapest prices. 2.0 Supply Chain management at Zara With a rapid change in the market conditions, like every other sector, the fashion industry has been under immense pressure to efficiently manage its supply chains. It has become important for the companies to increase their capacities and better manage its operations in order to save costs and also remain competitive. Supply Chain Management has a very important role to play in the success of Zara fashions. The creation of the final product a d its final delivery to the customer involved the art and technology of Supply Chain Management (SCM) working to streamline the operational functions and styles of doing work. The Zara managers have clearly defined the role of SCM as a blend of a variety of procedures that begin from the prelimin ary stage of the product till the completed utilization of the same creation by the customer. It is a procedure which entails the development, execution, of these plans, and scheming of the product construct with the purpose of providing absolute fulfillment to the customer with regards to the quality of the product, (Abernathy, Dunlop, Hammond, and Weil, 2000/1). Subsequently, by the application of better management capabilities, Zara supply chain fashion has achieved the following: Greater operational flexibility Ability to expand geographically Focus on core competencies Ease of achieving economies of scale Sourcing Strategies of Zara and its Supply chain configuration As compared to its competitors, the fashion brand – Zara follows quite a different business strategy with regards to the sourcing and its chain structure. Unlike most of its competitors, Zara has not resorted to or given the slightest inclination towards outsourcing. Normally, most of the major fashion brand s, have outsourced more than 90% of the operations to cheaper economies like India and China. More than 80% of the material is manufactured at the in-house facilities controlled by Zara in Europe. Although the cost of manufacture is 20% higher in Europe than in Asia, Zara still possesses a competitive advantage over its competitors with relation to its operations. With the help of its business and strategic partners based in Europe, the company easily has a product throughput time of 3-4 weeks from the initial conception phase to the final distribution to stores. In order to achieve this time target of 3-4 weeks, as compared to 3-4 months by its competitors, Zara designs and cuts the cloth at its in-house design centers and colors the fabric in just four colors to keep the costs low. The process of dying and design printing is kept waiting till the fabric finally enters the manufacturing phase, thereby minimizing the waste and inventories. This allows Zara to adapt to the latest mar ket trends and customer requirements in minimal time. On the other hand, the competitors of Zara, who outsource their work to Asia, are not able to take advantage of this aspect – they are not able to offer flexibility to change orders as per ; attests trends and fashion requirements. The orders with these competitors are placed for the whole season in bulk and are kept as inventories in distribution facilities for much larger periods of time as compared to Zara.

Implementation of Public Policy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Implementation of Public Policy - Essay Example There present study has been conducted to understand the loopholes of the present education system and provide some recommended solutions. The education system is one of the support pillars for economic prosperity for any economy. Therefore the administrative bodies try to cement the pillars which will bring future prospects for the society. In this paper the focus of attention will rest upon the tuition policy practices and the effective policies that might improve the policy. Countries generally tend to follow the combination of tuition as well as the student aid programs with the aim to regulate the enrolment rate which will open up the opportunities for higher education. In this fashion proper education can be provided towards all income groups. Identifying ineffective public policy A good education is worth investing and this has always been true. Providing quality education to the citizens of the country is all about turning vision into reality. At this point of time, one of th e major problems faced by the people of the country as far as the education system is concerned actually lies at the very grass root level, i.e. with the schools. The tuition fees imposed by the schools are actually quite high which is difficult to bear for parents belonging to different financial backgrounds. Again the problem is higher fees do not guarantee quality education. In fact the tuition policies followed by some of the schools are not advanced. The teacher student ratio is alarming and signifies the fact that major portion of students literally lacks caring. The American kids are devoid of getting quality or great schools simply because at this point of time there is not enough clarity around the ultimate objective of schooling. Here lies the concern. USA being a developed country will have to maintain sustainable economic policies. Children, being the future the society must be provided with quality education and they are the ones who will take the responsibility of the country in times to come. At an ideal school the educational professionals would understand that the mission is to help the children from a cognitive as well as social point of view. Also the physical, emotional and ethical perspectives should also be kept in mind. However, right now in USA it is all about cognitive growth. The American Schools are failing because the schools are looking to suppress the students into a compliance based educational model. Children are natural learners and are actually at the young age the children tend to have a lot of creativity, curiosity and intrinsic motivation. But various research studies have shown that the American public schools resemble that of prisons and as a result after certain years of formal schooling the inherent qualities of the students are dying. The willingness to learn of the students is an important aspect. The American schools are failing to provide the right environment and the right policies that keep the willingness to lear n alive. There have been various educational reform movements that have focused one side of the coin, i.e. the problem of educational inequality. There is very little doubt that educational inequality is a very serious problem. However, that is the not the only core issue. Such movements for some reason have totally undermined other important issues like support for underachieving students, improvements of the skills set of the teachers,